From Oklahoma Farm Report
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has increased the nation's winter wheat production estimate. In the latest crop production report released Wednesday, USDA pegged the nation's hard red winter wheat production at 887 million bushels compared to 738 million last year. All wheat production was estimated at 2.12 billion bushels versus 2.03 billion bushels last year. On this weekend’s edition of SUNUP, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson said USDA predicted Oklahoma will produce 114.8 million bushels, well above last year’s 48 million bushels.
“So you see, we’ve got significantly more hard, red winter wheat and significantly higher Oklahoma wheat production,” Anderson said.
Wheat harvest continues to quickly progress across the state. Anderson said harvesters are working from border to border and so far harvest has gone well. Harvest is nearly complete for the southern tier of counties and harvesters are quickly moving north. He said rain is being predicted in the weather forecast for this weekend into next week, which will slow down harvest progress. In talking with elevator operators, he said the crop is coming in either really good or really bad.
“It appears that the highest percentage of wheat is coming in above 58 (pounds) right now, but they are getting a significant amount of wheat, say 49 to 53 pound test weight,” Anderson said.
Farmers with lower test weights are penalized. Anderson said there are big discounts because the terminal elevators and flour millers don’t want lower test weight wheat. In looking at a discount schedule, he said the discount starts at 58 pounds and it drops by three to six cents per pound below that level.
“But, once you hit 55.5 pounds, you’re looking at a 20 cent discount there and then for each half of pound test weight below 55.5 pounds, you get another nickel discount,” he said. “So, you got 50 pound test weight wheat, you’re looking at a dollar to a dollar and a dime discount on that wheat.”
With higher wheat production, farmers will have higher returns on this crop over last year. Anderson said the state’s production looks to be about 140 percent higher than last year, while prices are about 25 percent lower than a year ago. With the increased yield and lower price, he said farmers will get about a 77 percent increase in total gross returns per acre because of the higher production. Anderson said he would rather have production than price and this year proves that theory. Click or tap on the LISTENBAR below to listen to the full interview with Kim Anderson.
This week on SUNUP, we talk with Josh Bushong about how canola harvest is progressing across Oklahoma.
-- Then, Dave Lalman explains the study conducted by Oklahoma State University to examine genetics related to milk production in beef cattle.
-- Next, Brian Arnall discusses how Nitrogen can move through the soil following a heavy rain event. He also has recommendations for summer crop applications.
-- In Cow-Calf Corner, Glenn Selk offers tips on fencing designs to keep bulls separate from cows.
-- Kim Anderson looks at the USDA wheat production estimates and analyzes the progress of wheat harvest. In addition, Kim discusses discounts for test weights.
-- Mandy Gross highlights the difference between a logo and a label in Food Whys.